perhaps the most recognizable high voltage device is the Van de Graaff generator a machine capable of multi million volt discharges it relies on mechanical friction to build up a charge but on the smaller scale it's often known for raising students hair on end and creating some nice sparks hey welcome back to plasma channel Van de Graaff generators are really fun to build in particular when you scale them down so I'm thrilled to show you a super simple high quality build that will produce more than 40,000 volts but best of all it runs off of two double-a batteries and can fit in the palm of your hand so buckle down buttercup because this is your official DIY mini Van de Graaff generator [Music] [Applause] [Music] this Van de Graaff generator produces sparks that are about a half an inch to an inch long depending on humidity it can also make your hair stand on end and it's entirely safe to touch that's the best part originally used for splitting the atom these generators use what's called the triboelectric effect to pump electrons up or down a column along a rubber belt this can lead to some awesome voltages alright let's just get straight to the build the materials you'll need for this build are a four and a half inch section of one and a half inch acrylic tubing half inch wide Teflon bar stock for one inch nylon spacers and nylon is important a three volt motor one one and a half inch steel brace to bolt that motor into place two acrylic disks three to four inches across three machine screws that are at least an inch and a half long one brass or steel rod one wide rubber band and to top it off one metal sphere I get it seems like a lot of parts but really it's not and also links to most the parts you need to build this project can be found in the video description down below let's start out by building the base take your two Plexiglas discs and drill four holes in them like so you'll see a hundred and twenty degrees apart on the outside and a quarter inch from the edge plus a center hole that's a sixteenth of an inch now these Center holes will make sense later but do this for both disks at this time you can also peel off the protective coating to show the beautiful Plexiglas underneath next take your nylon spacers and place them in between the holes on the Plexiglas take a bolt and slide it down those holes connecting it up and take a nut on the back side and tighten it down repeat this for all three sets of holes after which for the time being your base is complete next up it's time to knock out the lower roller and the motor take your Teflon rod and grab yourself a saw then turn it into a half-inch rod and drill a very precise hole in the end of it to accept a motor axle then bevel the edges of the roller like so fit the roller on to the motor and you may or may not need glue then dry fit the motor with the roller directly over that center hole and use the brace as a stencil to figure out where to drill you can now drill your holes for the motor mount and expand the center hole to three-quarters of an inch assemble the motor with two bolts and it should look just like this it'll be strong solid and I used a washer as a spacer next up the insulating Tower and upper roller this is your plexiglass tube and make sure the ends are completely square this is extremely important then being really gentle with it drill two holes the width of your rod opposite of each other and exactly one quarter of an inch from the edge then take a one and a half inch length of your rod and pass it through one side of the acrylic slide a nylon spacer on it and then pass the rod into the opposite side like so it's also a great idea to clip on some sea braces to keep everything in place now using a flexible epoxy cement your tower in place make sure it is perfectly centered and the top and lower rollers are completely parallel next to work on is the ground brush take stranded wire and spread it out in a fan shape like this with as many sharp points as possible then solder it onto a wire connector with a mounting hole you'll then need to drill out that hole in the base to the appropriate size and bolt the lower brush in place now let's tackle the upper brush and electrode now this severe in particular can be found in the links down below it comes with two halves and it works perfectly you can also use a soda can or pop can depending on which state you're from but you won't be able to attain as high of a voltage using those cans so take one of your halves and cut a one and a half inch hole in the base then take a one and a half inch rubber o-ring and slide it down the column place the base of the sphere up top and adjust it so that the top of the column rests about a quarter of an inch underneath the top of the half then glue the o-ring in place now construct the upper brush by bending more of your rod in an S shape so that it sits inside the circumference of the electrode it should also sit on top of the column use the aluminum foil tape cut into strands as the upper brush don't let it touch the rubber band now you can remove the base of the electrode and rejoin it with its upper half do so using aluminum foil tape and smooth out the edges lastly is the rubber band that's the thing that makes the whole thing work that was supposed to hit the camera to install the rubber band disassemble the upper roller and slide the rubber band in place stretch it down the tubing and gently wrap it over the bottom roller taking care not to bend the ground brush now for the electrical ground create a counterpoise out of aluminum foil tape on the underside you'll probably want to add a battery holder and solder it to the motor and adding a switch is also crucial now with the push of a button static electricity is at your command within seconds it should start producing sparks which easily jump through the air to your hand and raise the hair on your arm from about six inches away if this doesn't happen it might be that your environments just a little too humid for the day so to solve that take a hair dryer and warm up your entire device now me being me all I really care about are the sparks but this little mini Van de Graaff generator is also awesome at accumulating electric charges that means it can demonstrate how like charges repel and opposite charges attract one another take Christmas tinsel for example that stuff gets everywhere but if you tape it to the top of the electrode and turn the device on its repelled out in all directions it stands straight up that's because it all has the exact same charge and the same charges all repel each other but when you move your hand near it the tinsel drops and that's because you're draining all the charge out of the system here's the scoop this thing is really fun I actually played with it a whole bunch between takes while filming this video now it requires virtually no maintenance and the only thing that needs replacing over time will be the belt and that's just the rubber band you now have a scaled-down version of what originally split the atom now this 3 volt mini vandegraaff is a part of a series that includes my 3 volt Tesla coil and the mini desktop lightning tower if you want to see those DIY projects click on the links at the end of the video or down below thanks for stopping by and don't forget to share like and subscribe to plasma channel check us out on other social media and feel free to check out our various other episodes with science every two weeks you stay classy [Music]